HUNTINGTON, IN - With the possibility of a home MCC playoff game on the line, Spring Arbor University pulled off a huge 73-70 victory in front of a loud and crazy Forester crowd on the campus of Huntington University.
Matt Van Pelt hadn't been to the free throw lone all night long but with the Cougars leading 71-70 with 5 seconds left on the clock, VanPelt received an inbound pass from Chris Bellamy and was quickly fouled to stop the clock. VanPelt stepped to the line and knocked down both free throws to give Spring Arbor a three point lead with 0.04 to go and that would be the margin of victory.
Spring Arbor, winner of four in the last five, finishes the regular season at 9-7 in the Mid-Central College (MCC) Conference and 17-13 overall and currently sits in 4th place ahead of Huntington (20-9, 8-7) who will conclude its regular season at Saint Francis (21-8, 10-5) on Saturday.
"This was a huge win on the road for us tonight," said Head Coach Ryan Cottingham. "Willie (Pickvet) really stepped up and played a monster game for us. Everybody did, VanPelt was clutch in the end, DJ (Baisden) was all over the place, Bellamy played solid, Matt Howe is getting better and better. To win here with the crowd like it is. You really can't believe how loud it gets in this gym. This was a really great win tonight!"
Pickvet led all scorers with 29 points with 12 of 17 shots from the field, including one of two from beyond the 3-point arc. Bellamy scored 14 points, Baisden added 13 points, and Matt Howe chipped in 9 points.
This was a white-knuckle game for 40 minutes as neither team could ever get in front of the other by more than nine points. Huntington only had the advantage twice, both in the first half and both briefly, but the Cougars couldn't ever shake the Foresters and led by nine points (36-27) at the half.
Huntington out-rebounded Spring Arbor 35-29 but the Cougars shot the ball better and that was the difference in the ball game. Spring Arbor hit over 50% (26-51) from the field and only turned the ball over 9 times in the entire game.
So Spring Arbor is in a "wait and see" mode until Saturday as they await the outcome of the Huntington - St. Francis game. If Huntington wins, then Spring Arbor will open the MCC Playoff on the road at Huntington. If Huntington loses to St. Francis, then Spring Arbor will stay at home and host Huntington.
